The Canadian Supreme Court's reversal of a 21-year ban on doctor-assisted death offers a bold, new legal argument that could propel the American movement—in short: Aid-in-dying is pro-life, activists assert.
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To qualify for assisted dying in Canada, an individual must be a consenting, mentally competent adult with a "grievous and irremediable" condition that causes "endless suffering," physical or psychological, the court said.
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"People [in most states] who are terminally ill and looking forward to some sort of horrific symptoms before they die are forced to end their lives prematurely … while they can still boost themselves over the balcony or in front of the train or put a gun in in their mouths," Coombs Lee told NBC News.
If death-with-dignity was legal across the U.S., those people might live longer, knowing they could have a "peaceful aid-in-dying option," she said. "It prolongs lives, pure and simple."
Only five U.S. states allow aid-in-dying: Oregon, Washington and Vermont by legislation; and Montana and New Mexico by court rulings currently being challenged. Forty states explicitly ban the practice.
